Chapter 91

"Quiet down, everyone, quiet down!"

"The issue at hand is how we should respond to this Xinke company. Should we agree to their request for independent import and export rights?"

"How can we possibly agree to such a request!"

"Exactly, if we let one slip through today, won't everyone below us want their own import and export rights in the future? What will happen to the country's aviation import and export management then?"

"Then should we just reject the Air Force's request? The Air Force is counting on this Xinke company to contribute to the F-14 domestication project. We can't ignore the Air Force's opinion, can we?"

"I think we should do this: let's investigate Hu Wenhai. A person with over 2 billion RMB in assets, there must be something wrong with that. Where did he get the Viagra technology from? Did he steal it from a domestic research institute? Who knows what's going on! With a patent fee of 1 billion USD per year, and the F-14 imports originally being our business, I think if we take this guy down, we can take over everything!"

"I agree!"

"I think it's a good idea!"

"I think we can seek help from Old Kong of the Aviation Industry Department. The higher-ups can't just sit by and watch us get bullied, right?"

"Right, at the very least, we need to take back the F-14 import rights from the Air Force. Matters like aircraft imports should be handled by our Aviation Industry Department, which is more reliable!"

...

In the Air Force guesthouse, the entire fifth floor was now sealed off. Fortunately, it was the military's own guesthouse, and those entering and exiting were either PLA personnel or people related to the military. They had some knowledge of confidentiality and knew not to ask questions they shouldn't. Even when the elevator passed the fifth floor, people would instinctively close their mouths.

The Air Force guesthouse had seven floors, with about thirty rooms on each floor. The fifth floor had slightly fewer rooms, with only twenty-four standard guest rooms, but it had a large meeting room of about 100 square meters.

The door to this meeting room, located at the end of the corridor, was tightly closed, and occasional arguments could be heard from inside.

Despite the large size of the fifth-floor meeting room, it still felt crowded with nearly fifty people inside. If the central exhaust system in the meeting room wasn't running at full power, it might have suffocated a couple of people.

"Long-range fire support unit, what type and level are the Iraqi artillery pieces?"

"Mainly Soviet-made 2S3 self-propelled howitzers, with a caliber of 152mm and a range of 18,500 meters. There are about 400 of them. There are also about 100 French MKF3 self-propelled howitzers, with a caliber of 155mm and a range of 23,300 meters."

"Is the French MKF3 a product from the 1950s? Is there any potential for modification?"

"What can artillery be modified for? Just changing the engine is enough; the cannon itself can't be modified!"

"What's Hu's opinion on this?"

With this final question, everyone in the meeting room turned to look at Hu Wenhai, who was sitting at the head of the table, waiting for his evaluation.

"Who says it can't be modified? Of course it can!" Hu Wenhai's authority wasn't easily earned. Each person in this meeting room was a top expert in their respective fields, and they wouldn't easily be convinced by anyone.

Hu Wenhai's authority was established through repeatedly overturning their proposals and presenting his own new solutions. The results of his various modification suggestions indeed stood out and were more in line with the so-called solutions.

It was essential to focus on "system" warfare. The equipment included in the solution had to demonstrate greater value than simple mechanized equipment.

"Please remember, information is the most critical element for any combat unit, and it is also the best way to address the quality issues of the Iraqi army." Hu Wenhai picked up a pen, walked to the whiteboard behind him, and began drawing branches from the "Artillery Command Center" entry.

"First, one of the tasks of artillery is to eliminate the enemy's artillery units. In the information network, this is reflected in reconnaissance capabilities. Discovering battlefield information earlier than the enemy is a prerequisite for both self-protection and enemy destruction. The reconnaissance capabilities we can provide to the Iraqi army include artillery radar, high-altitude drones, laser rangefinders, and locators."

"Artillery radar can record the firing positions of enemy artillery units. High-altitude drones can detect enemy movements through television and infrared sensors before an attack. Laser rangefinders and locators can be used to mark strategic and tactical targets for artillery clearance. However, the most important part is this automated artillery command system. All basic artillery units can upload their positions and status to the command center server via a positioning system. Reconnaissance units and infantry units can also upload strike targets to the command center server, which will categorize all information and display it on the battlefield map system."

"Commanders can allocate and direct firepower based on strategic and tactical plans. The command center can monitor the status of each basic artillery unit in real-time, whether they are deployed, moving, or concealed, as well as the surrounding traffic and logistics supply conditions, and base their command on this information. When the commander issues an order, the computer system can automatically convert the positioning information into firing parameters for each artillery unit, reducing the workload of frontline officers and enabling less skilled soldiers to achieve precise artillery strikes."

"To achieve this combat network, we need to provide the Iraqi army with—artillery radar, communication relay drones, high-altitude television and infrared reconnaissance drones, laser rangefinders and locators, command center computer systems, digital maps, and firing control computer systems, a large number of sensors and communication positioning radios, frontline communication exchange centers, and wired communication lines."

Hu Wenhai wrote the final line on the already crowded whiteboard and nodded in satisfaction. "To achieve such a combat network, I think a package price of 200 million USD is reasonable."

"200 million USD!" The people in the meeting room looked at each other in surprise and asked, "Isn't this price too high? Our Type 59 tanks are sold to Iraq for only 1 million RMB. A system like this for 200 million USD, isn't that a rip-off..."

"Right!" Hu Wenhai actually laughed and nodded. "Do you think Iraq is a pushover? In reality, looking at Iraq's military spending, you can see that they are not unwilling to spend money, but they can't buy combat power with it! If 200 million USD can secure a victory, would Saddam care about the money? Our weapons are cheap not because Saddam is stingy, but because our weapons are undervalued."

Hu Wenhai's words left the meeting room in silence. Indeed, the Chinese Type 59 tank entered the Iran-Iraq War market because of its "high quality and low price."

The Soviet T-54 tank, which had similar combat capabilities, was at least three to four times the price of the Type 59 tank, and Saddam purchased them in the thousands.

The Type 59 tank, priced at 1 million RMB per unit, had a transaction value of over 1 billion USD during the entire Iran-Iraq War. This doesn't even count the more popular Type 69 tanks, J-7 fighters, Type 56 assault rifles, Silkworm missiles, Type 63 armored vehicles, and 107mm rocket launchers, which made the entire Chinese military industry prosperous.

On the other hand, the large-scale procurement from Iraq also revealed the extent of their equipment losses.

Iraq's logistics management was abysmal. Due to poor logistics support, equipment often had to be abandoned when slightly damaged. Even if we don't consider other factors, wouldn't improving the efficiency of the logistics system alone be worth 200 million USD? During the entire Iran-Iraq War, Iraq's military expenditure reached 120 billion USD. Convincing Saddam to spend 200 million USD on this system would be a simple matter.

"But we don't have many of these things, like the command center server. Wouldn't we need a mainframe to meet its computational requirements..."

"Oh, Iraq can pay in advance and commission us to develop it," Hu Wenhai said casually. "I think the Iran-Iraq War will last a few more years. I believe Mr. Saddam will see our solution equipped in his army before the war ends."

"Can it be done like that!" Everyone was stunned.

"This is called commissioned development. What's so strange about it?"

"You guys, you're too young and naive!" Hu Wenhai said with a sigh. "You have to see that, apart from us, no other country can provide this system to Iraq! Will the Americans develop this for Iraq? The Soviets haven't even figured out their own system, and even with real money, they can't buy it! The key is to convince Saddam that this system really has the capability. You have to understand that as long as it can help the Iraqis win the war, they won't care how much it costs."

"Alright, let's now look at how much we should quote for the entire C3I system of the Iraqi army."

"Oh, okay!" Under Hu Wenhai's urging, everyone snapped out of their capitalist mindset and began to calculate the quotes for their respective parts.

"Iraqi air defense and Air Force information networking, construction, and improvement of the Iraqi radar network and air defense command center, 30 JY-9 radars, quoted at 620 million USD."

"Iraqi digital military communication network, quoted at 280 million USD."

"Positioning signal base stations and receiving systems, 120 million USD. Combat unit positioning and data upload units, 1 million USD per set."

"Logistics command center control system, 80 million USD, information units 1 million USD per set."

...

"Initial estimate, the entire system should be quoted at around 3.2 billion USD."

Hu Wenhai clicked his tongue. "Is that all? It feels like too little. I think we should double it and quote 7 billion USD to the Iraqis!"

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